It's General Conference week! :)

Yes! It's General Conference this weekend and I am so excited!!! We kicked this week off with the General Relief Society Broadcast and it was awesome! It is amazing how our Heaven;y Father knows just what we need to hear! I loved it so much! If you haven't had a chance to watch it... DO! It's so good. The new General Relief Society Presidency spoke along with our beloved prpphet: Thomas S. Monson. (Love him!) With a guest appearance by the one and only....

Hermana Kailey Woodruff!

I was super stoked to see a familiar face and everyone around me knew it! :) What can I say? I just really love her!!! It was super cool and I loved it!

So it was a nice little appetizer to the main course of General Conference this week! I encourage all of you to watch it and be spiritually uplifted and edified! I will be taking copious notes! ;)

Well. I don't have much else to say about this week other than it was a week of ups and downs!

This week we find out what will happen with transfers. (They are a week from Tuesday.) I am pretty sure I will be transferred out of the Woodruff ward (sad day) and away from Sister Brown (Sadder day). I guess you will all have to wait and see until next week! I know that you will all be anxiously awaiting the moment my weekly email arrives. ;) 

Love you all lots and lots and lots! Talk to you soon!!

Love, Sister Bauer

Ether 12:27 (One of my new favs!)

"27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I  give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Fwd: Yo Ho!!!

Family and Friends of mine! How is everyone this fine week??? Hopefully good! It's been a bit of a stressful week for me! But things are good. I am grateful for the blessings that I do have and I try to recognize the blessings in the trials.

This week was really low on member present lessons, but we met with Sherry almost everyday. We had a family home evening with her on Sunday and she told us she had gotten to Alma 32 in her Book of Mormon Reading. She told us she had read verses 16-18 and told us she knew it was just for her. It says,

"16 Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.

 17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us aasign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.

 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it."

She is well on her way to baptism and I love it! I so love Sherry!!!! She has been an angel sent to Sister Brown and I and I love her so much!!

This week I have shared this scripture on multiple occasions. It one of my new favorites. It's in
Mormon 9:19. 

19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever! He is unchanging. And just like Christ performed Miracles when He was on the earth, that priesthood authority (or the power to act in the name of Jesus Christ) has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and we witness those same miracles today. God Loves all of his children enough to give them a prophet. Just like he gave them prophets in the old testament times. I know that prophet is a man of God and he really does receive revelation from our Father in Heaven. I know that as we heed the words of the Prophet, we will see the miracles occur and the blessings will come. 

I love the Lord.

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I love you all!!

Have a happy week! :)

Love, Sister Bauer

Pics for this week!

Elder Bledsoe (Left) and Elder Walker, one of the APs (Right) Thumb wrestling with tissues on their thumbs because they were getting sweaty. This match lasted a good 15 minutes... it was ridiculous! Elders are so weird!

This was alllll over our floor (Thanks to the APs for grinding it in the floor with their shoes...)

My cool California shirt!

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Trials are Blessings!

This has been my mantra since I've started my mission. Going into this mission I thought, "I want to come out of this someone totally different. I still want to be Jacqueline, but a new and improved Jacqueline"

To achieve this, we must go through trials. There is no other way to achieve it. Something I have come to learn is that growing is painful. No matter what kind of growing we do, whether it's physically, mentally, spiritually, or emotionally. It's an uncomfortable process. But I know that after we go thought it, we are thankful that we did. We are thankful because we change from what we were to what we have become. 

There are times when I pray to my Heavenly Father and ask Him why I have to go through the things I do. But then I remember what I told Him as I started my mission. That I wanted to change. I am grateful for trials because they are shaping me and molding me into the person that I want to become. 

One of my favorite sections of the Doctrine and Covenants is section 121, when Joseph Smith is in Liberty Jail and is asking God why he has to go through these trials and I love what God says to him.

Joesph says,

"1 O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?

 2 How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?

 3 Yea, O Lord, ahow long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful boppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with ccompassion toward them?"

Then the lord answers and I love what he says,

"7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 9 Thy afriends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

 10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job."

The Lord is right! I am not as Job!!! I have it much easier than him! And I am grateful for that. But I am also grateful for trials that I know how to endure.

I love you all and I'm sorry this email is a little short this week! Peace be unto your souls!

God be with you all!

Love, 

Sister Bauer

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Week 3 of Transfer 4!

Welcome to the third week of the transfer everyone! Week three is crazy because it means the transfer is half over. It's crazy how fast 6 weeks goes by! 

Well, all is going good here in Southern California! Just another day in the great and spacious building! But really. We live way to close to Hollywood and LA for our own good. The filth seeps over to Long Beach. I think the hardest thing about being a missionary in California is the Pride of the world. Because Southern California is so expensive to live in, people have to be a little more well off than your average Utahan. So naturally, "they don't need God." Humility is definitely lacking here in the Golden State.

We have really been struggling to find more people to teach. It's been so freakin hot that nobody wants to go outside! (I don't blame them!) So street contacts this past week have been something that haven't been really an option. Lately, we have started to "Chalk" bus stops. We write a random person's name and then tell them to call the missionaries! And then we write our number... no success yet! But we'll see! This week we are going to go to a park and draw out the Plan of Salvation and write some inspired questions and then our number. You never know right?

So, the Woodruff ward has always had a bad rep. for the missionary work being slow. You can ask any previous missionary who has served in the ward. So Sister Brown and I decided that something needed to change because what has been happening has not bee working. So we purposed a 40 day fast for our ward. It's basically when different families or individuals sign up for different time periods to fast so that there is always someone fasting during the 40 days. It's actually pretty cool. There have been other wards around us that have done it and seen a lot of miracles happen. We want to do some sort of activity each week where members can invite their friends. Like watch the Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration Film, Have an Ice-Cream Social, watch the testaments, that kind of stuff! I think it will be a great opportunity for the members to be more involved in the missionary work that happens!

Sherry is just fantastic as always! She is always sending us scriptures from the Book of Mormon, quotes by prophets and apostles, Etc. She is always so willing to come with us to baptism and firesides. She already told us she would come with us to the General Relief Society Broadcast! (Which I am completely STOKED about by the way!) So that will be completely Amazing! She still won't commit to a specific date for baptism, but I know that she will be baptized. It's just a matter of WHEN. She really wants to make sure she KNOWS it's true before she gets baptized because she doesn't want to be flaky. I'm not sure if she KNOWS that Joseph Smith is a prophet and if Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. And those are kinda important things. She will get there! I love Sherry so much! She is seriously the greatest person on earth! So sweet, kind, selfless, and loving! She's "practically perfect in every way". (Get it? That was a Mary Poppins reference... ha)

Welllllll! It's time to say goodbye this week! I will bid you all adieu and look forward to next week when my inbox will be sooo full with all the responses you send... *Hint *Hint! ;)

I love you all so much! Pray for you often! 

Remember to be happy! True Happiness comes from following the example of Jesus Christ in all things!

2 Nephi 5:27, 

"27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness."

 

Mosiah 2:41

"41  And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I love you all!!!! Have a happy week! :) 

Love Sister Bauer

Exchange with Sis. Luft (My Sister Training Leader)

A weird little diggy thing at the park! I think I have a future in Excavation. 

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

I forgot!

Also, Just a little update on the weather here! This whole summer it has been 75-80 degrees max with a nice ocean breeze! That is until now! Ugh! this past week and this coming week are in the high 90s or 100s and humidity out the wazoo!! Sorry for those of you who have had to live with this for the whole summer! That must suck!!! (Natalie Gibb, Liza Stephens!) Thanks goodness for air conditioner! 

Bye!!

Love Sis Bauer

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

I love New Missionaries!!!

This past Tuesday all the new missionaries came in! Sis. (Mission Pres's Wife) asked me and Sis. Brown to come and help her make lunch for the new missionaries who would be arriving and also just mingle with them. (Well the sisters at least) It was really cool! I love getting to meet the new missionaries because it reminds me of when I was one of them. Hard to believe it was a whole 5 months ago! Glad I am not in their shoes. That day sucked! Running on no sleep and not knowing what the heck is going on!!!! No Thank-you! I will choose the situation I am in now thank you!\

Anyways! So that was fun! Sis. Tew even said that she is probably going to have sisters there every time now because those poor missionaries don't know what the heck is going on and all they want to know is what is going to happen to them! 

This week was a slow one as far as work goes. Sister Brown hasn't been feeling well lately, and so we've kinda been taking it easy! She is great! We will def be best friends when we get off our missions!!! I will go home only 1 transfer before her.

So we had a cool experience this week!! We were biking and ran into this man who was watering his lawn/flowers. We started talking to him and he said his name was Barom. He was born in Cambodia and lived there until he was 5, then moved to Germany and lived there until 6 years ago. We told him that we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and he started telling us about his son who goes to church. (He was a little confused and thought that because his son went to "a Church" we knew him) Anyways! Long story short! We went back last night and took Barom a Cambodian Book of Mormon and we also got to meet his 14 year old son Wilney. (Yes... Wilney not Willy.) Barom speaks broken English, but Wilney speaks perfect English and started telling us about how he is really searching to find himself right now and he wants to find God and He know's there is a God and so on and so forth! It was cool because I was able to see how a 14 year old boy (Like Joesph Smith) could really care so much about his salvation and his soul. It was really refreshing! I realized that there are teenagers in the world who care about the important stuff! It gave me hope!! :) Anyways, So we gave them to the Cambodian speaking elders so that if Wilney joins the church, it will help his dad get there too and he will be able to be a fellow-shipper for his dad. I hope to see their names sometime soon on the mission email that we get every week saying who was baptized the past week! Both were so grateful for the Book of Mormons and Barom was so grateful for one in Cambodian! It was definitely a miracle to find them!

Well, time to bid you Adieu! Love you all and hope this finds you all well! Don't be afraid to email me back or write me a letter! Love from California!!!

Love Sister Bauer!

Woodruff Ward Missionaries: Elder Thorup, Elder Komarek, Elder Fillmore, Sister Bauer, Sister Brown

Junipero District

 

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.